Time and volume control for gas



' Jan. 18, 1944. w, R, KING 2,339,487

TIME AND VOLUME CONTROL FOR GAS INTERMIT'IERS Filed May 25, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 O i S i i E: \E W 5 "l8 a w N p: 2o ii-i" 90 95 21 i 88. in: C 92- "I m E O 10 W"R.KIN6- waursm.

Jan, 18, 1944.

W. R. KING TIME AND VOLUME CONTROL FOR GAS INTERMITTERS Filed May 25, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 @EENTOR. elimfm ATTO/PA/Z' Jan. 18, 1944. w. R. KING TIME AND VOLUME CONTROL FOR'GAS INTERMITTERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 25, 1940 Patented Jan. 18, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIMEAIND VOLUME CONTROL FOR GAS INTERNHTTERS William R. King, Mineola, Tex.

Application May'25, 1940; Serial No. 337,113

13 Claims.

The invention relates to. an intermitter for wells whereintthe wellis to be produced intermittently and is of a particular type where the fluid pressure is controlled both as to time and as to volume, so that adjustment thereof may be had to produce from the well a predetermined amount .of fluid which'will vary with the characteristics and requirements of the particular well.

In the flowing of wells the procedure has evolved to an arrangement wherein a predetermined flow from each wellis permitted and the present invention contemplates a mechanism whichca'rr be adjusted so as to produce the predetermined allowable from the well and which willnot produce more than this allowable and; at the same time; conserve the pressure fluid being used to iiowtthe well:

With'present devices used for flowing wells it is not: uncommon to have a great waste of fluid pressure so that the gas-oil ratio of the well is very-hi'gh, but" with the present invention the gas oilratio can be reduced materially and positively controlled to produce the desired Volume of'l'iquidl" Itisioneoi the objectsof the invention to provide a time andfivolume' control for gas inter mitters:

Another. object of the invention is to provide oneonmore unloading valves on a string of tubing in a well which valves are charged to operate'" at a" predetermined gas" pressure introduced into thewelr'andcontrollediro'm the surface.

Another object of the invention is to flow a wellby introducing a predetermined volume of pressurefluid' so that a predetermined volume of liquid will be produced from the wellthereby.

Another object'of the invention is to control a timingmechanism' forintroducing pressure fluid in the flowing of the well; so as to control not only the volume of the gas introduced but the rate of introduction as well.

Still'anotherpbject of the invention is to provide'a mechanismcfor applying a constant source of pressure to a flowing device which will control the rate of admission of the pressure fluid so as to'produce from the' well a predetermined volume which" 'isigovern'ed by the rate of the flow.

Another object 'of'the' invention is to provide a timer mechanism toadmit pressure fluid in theflowing of'a well for a predetermined period .while" controlling the maximum pressure which is applied to the well'a's a function of the volume which -istdbepro'oluced;

'Anot-h'er. objieotof the invention is to provide a difierentia'lcontrol mechanism for Well intermitters wherein the differential pressure set up across an orifice plate will control the power valve for admitting pressure fluid.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a charged valve for well intermitters which will seal oh to exclude pressures exceeding a predetermined amount so as to protect the valve against excessive pressure.

Still another object of the invention is to provide ameans and method of intermitting'wells wherein the flow of a predetermined volume is controlled by a time and volume control of the introduction of pressure fluid.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accompan'ying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrative of a well construction and the timing and volume control mechanism as applied for operation.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of one of the unloading valves and illustrating the detailed construction thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the arrangement of the" time and volume control wherein pressure'isadmitted for a predetermined time with a regulator for the maximum pressure to be applied.

Fig. 4- is a vertical sectional view of thern'aximum pressure regulator of Fig; 3.

Figs 5 is an enlarged side elevation with certain partsin section of the timing and differentialc-ontrol mechanism of Fig. 1.

Fig.6 is atop plan view of the timer mechanism with the top removed to illustrate the internal constructionthereof.

In Fig. l a well casing is illustrated generally at 2 and has its upper end 3 closed about a tubing 4. A well of this sort may be of any desired depth and the tubingv and easing may be of any desired diameter. This tubingorflow string extends down into the well to the lower reaches thereof and, as seen in Fig. 1, supports a drum 5, which is in the form of an accumulation chamber for the oil discharging from the formation into the well bor-e.- A standing valve 6 which opens upwardly is carried by the lower end of the drum so that fluid under pressure may enter the flowing assembly but may not discharge-therefrom. through the valve 8. A sleeve 1 projects above'the standing valve and is enclosed by a skirt or apron 8, which is mounted: on the lower end 9 of the tub ing string 4. The drum 5 is closed about the standing. valve 6 and about the tubing at the elevation H. In this manner it seems obvious that fluid entering the standing valve may either move upwardly in the tubing 4 or it may circulate through the skirt 8 into the chamber I2 inside of the drum 5. A leak port I4 is provided in the tubing adjacent the head I5 of the drum so that any gas present in the drum may escape into the tubing with a view of allowing the oil or other liquid to flow into the drum.

A packer I1 may be provided in the well casing about the drum or'the tubing so as to form a seal and provide a fluid pressure reservoir I8 in the casing above the packer.

An intermitter valve is shown as being connected to the head I5 of the drum so that pressure fluid admitted from the reservoir I8 may and these valve may be set to open at slightly greater pressures than that at which the intermitter valve 20 unloads. Thus, if the tubing 4 should contain liquid the pressure applied to the reservoir I8 would first cause opening of the intermitter valve 20 but if the applied pressure were insuificient to unload the well the intermitter valve 2|] would stay open but little or no pressure fluid would enter the drum 5. 'If the pressure in the reservoir I8 were then increased the next succeeding higher valve would open and this operation would continue until a valve would open at a pressure which was, sufilcient to unload the column of oil in the tubing 4 above that valve. When the column of oil in the tubing is unloaded down to that valve it would reduce the back pressure on the next succeeding lower valve which then, being open due to the increased pressure, would begin to admit fluid pressure fluid so that the valves would unload in sequence downwardly along the tubing until the load on the well was reduced to such an extent that there wouldbe a flow through the intermitter valve 20.

' The valves 20 and 23 are of a particular construction which is best seen in Fig. 2 and willbe later described. They ar of atype which will open when a predetermined gas or fluid pressure is applied thereto, depending upon the pressure at which the valve is charged or set to operate.

In order to control the fiow of fluid pressure into the reservoir I8 from a source of pressure in the pipe 30, a timing mechanism 3| and a differential pressure mechanism 32 are attached to the inlet line 33.

The timing and difierential pressure mechanisms are best seen in Fig. 5 and include a power valve 35, which includes a housing 38 carrying a valve member 31 operated by the valve stem 38. This valve is shown as an upwardly closing valve which is normally held closed by a spring 39 and which is arranged for operation by means of a diaphragm) arranged in the housing M. This housing is made up of a base 42 and a timer head 43,. In order to apply fluid pressure in the operating chamber 45 to open the valve 9. connection 45 has been arranged from the supply line 30. A suitable reducer valve 41 may be provided on this connection so that pressure fluid to actuate the power valve will not exceed a predetermined value. A connection 48 from the reducer valve leads through the fitting 49 and the pipe 50 into the chamber 45. A choke 52 is provided in the pipe 48 so as to restrict the flow of fiuid therethrough, Normally th flow will be through the pipe 45, the reducer valve 41, and the pipe 48 into the fitting 49. A discharge port 53 in the fitting 49 is seen as open in Fig. 5, so that the flow ordinarily would be through this port into the atmosphere and there would be no flow into the chamber 45.

In order to direct the pressurethrough this connection into the chamber 45 a closure 55 is arranged to be operated by the timing mechanism as best seen in Fig. 6. This timing mechanism includes a rotatable cam 58, which carries the notches 51. A lever 58 is arranged to have the pin 59 thereof engage in the notches so as to allow pivoting of the lever about the shaft 80. A spring 6| normally urges this lever against the cam 55. When the pin 59 moves into one of the notches 51 the closure 55 is forced against the fitting 49 to close the port 53. The pressure through the pipe 48 will then accumu late in the chamber 45 to depress the diaphragm 40 and open the main power valve.

By arranging the speed of rotation of the timer and the size and configuration of the notches 51 plate but is normally urged to the left,'as seen in Fig. 5, by a loading spring 10. Thisv loading spring is adjustable by means of the screw 1| which carries a cylinder 12 which moves relative to indicia 13 on the periphery of the housing. 68.

By observing this construction the adjustment of the spring 18 may be determined.

A rod 14 projects into the lefthand side of the 7 housing 88 and carries a plug 15 which is adapted to close the port 16 in the pipe 11 which leads. from the timer head 43 and from the chamber.

45. This port 16 is relatively small so' as to allow a gradual leakage of pressure fluid from.

'. that a dififerential pressure will be set up across the diaphragm. As this differential pressure increases the diaphragm 69 will be moved to the right to uncover the port 16 and allowthe escape of pressure fluid from the chamber 45 so that the spring 39 will'close the valve member 31. On the other hand, if the differential pressure decreases across the plate the opposite action will occur to close the port 16, allowing the pressure to increase in the chamber 45 and open the valve member 31.

Itseems obvious from the foregoing construction that there will be somewhat of a hunting action on the part of the main valve 35during the period it is to be opened by the timing mechanism so as to admit the volume of fluid during that period at a predetermined rate, so

that in combination the timing and the difierjustment of the spring 18' the difierentialpres:

sure, at which the. valve .35 will be operated can bev readily controlled.

The adjustment of the screw H determines the volume which will flow into the well during the time interval, set upon the timer 3|.

Fig. 2 shows the construction of the valve 20 or 23 wherein a base 89' is aflixed to the tubing 4 over an inlet opening. 8!. A chamber 82 in the base is closed atthe bottom by the plug 83 and at the top by a valve seat 84. This seat has a passage 85 therethrough for the flow of pressure fluid and has the inlet openings 86 in the side thereof. Inside of this, seat is the valve member 81 carried by astem 88 which is arranged for sliding. movement in the base 89 of the protector sleeve 98. A gasket 9| is positioned about thestem 88 on top of the valve member 81 so as to form a seal with the. lower end 92 of the base 89. A pressure chamber 93 is afiixed at the. upper end of the protector sleeve 90 and carries a bellows 94, which is arranged. for movement in the protector sleeve 98. The valve stem 88 is connected to the lower collar 9.5 of the bellows and the upper endis aflixed to the bottom of the pressure chamber. A safety baffle 96 is afiixed in the lower end of .the pressure chamber 93 and extends into the. bellows, having a small opening 9! in the bottom thereof so as to control the flow in and outot the pressure container 93 to and from the bellows 94.

A connection 98,provides for charging the pressure chamber Q3 and the bellows with gas at a predetermined pressure. This pressure determines the pressure at which the valve will operate.

In operation this valve will be positioned as shown in Fig. 2 and will be charged with such a pressiue in the pressure chamber 93 as will permit the valve member 81 to rise from its seat at a predetermined pressure, say, three hundred p n -W The pressure applied tothe valve enters the ports 86, passes around the valve stem 88 upwardly through the base 99 and into the bellows chamber inside of the protector sleeve 90 and about the bellows. As thisa pplied pressure increases and moves above thepredetermind pressure at which the valve is set to operate, the fluid inside of the chamber 93 is compressed and the bellows begins to collapse. As the bellows collapses the stem 88 and valve 8! will be raised so as to. open the passage 35 and allow pressure fluid to enter the tubing 4. As the applied pressure at the opening 86 is reduced due to the flow into the tubing it seems obvious that there will be a corresponding reduction inside of the protective sleeve 90. The bellows will expand as the pressure reduces. It has been found in operation that a construction of this sort actually snaps open and snaps closed so that the valve is opened and closed sharply. In fact, the bafiie 96 is provided with the damping openings 9'! so as to prevent too violent an action of the device by permitting the gradual leakage into or, out of the balile through this small orifice 91. This baffle also serves to reduce. the volume of gas required to fill the inside of the housing 90 and thus causes a more accurate control and definite action.

In some instances excessive pressures may be purposely or inadvertently applied to the device and the openings 89 which might have a detrimental effect upon the bellows 94, so, with a View of protecting such bellows against, excessive pressures. the protective. sleeve 90. has been provided, and thegasket H on the valve stem above the alremsre n s hsna ifli n ur i the drum 5.

exerted. to collapse the bellowslsufiiciently to move the valve 81 upwardly asufiicient distance, then the gasket 91 engages the lower end of the base 89 and forms a. seal about the stem so as to prevent. any excessive pressure entering the bellows chamber. Thus any excessive pressure is sealed off and the bellows is protected against destruction. When the excessive pressure is exhausted so that the valve 87 tends to move down, then the valve may be closed and the pressure again equalized in the bellows chamber.

The apparatus of Fig. 1 can be used to obtain a constant flow if desired by either disconnecting the timer 3i or allowing it to run constantly to hold the power valve open. Under these circumstances excessive pressure would be applied to the intermitter valve 29 to keep it open at all times or it might be that the well would seek a balance in accordance with the applied pressure and one of the unloading valves 23 under these circumstances might be the valve through which the pressure fluid would enter the tubing, depending upon the pressure encountered in the well, the elevation of the static head and the back pressure applied. Under thesev circumstances, the differential pressure mechanism 32 would be set to admit a predeterminedv volume. and the pressure which accumulated in the well due to that volume would seek the appropriate valve for entry, depending upon the characteristics of the well. The faster the rate of entry of the pressure fluid the faster wi be the. increase in the pressure applied in the well. The higherpressurewill thus operate the higher valves to unload the well and in this mannor the back pressure onthe formation is reduced. This operation continues until the valves unload which operate at pressure which is constant for the rate of entry, so that in this manner the well automatically seeks a proper balance for operatic-n.

In Fig. 1, the drum 5 may be omitted and the standing valve placed directly on the lower end of the tubing or the packer provided about the tubto maintain the pressure chamber l3 without In either instance it may be used as an intermitter or as a constant flow device.

Fig. 3 shows a, slightly modifiedarrangement-of the device in Fig. l where a maximum pressure regulator liili has been applied on the inlet pipe 33 in lieu of the diiierentialpressure device 32 of i. This regulator. is connected to the pipe 11, the same as the differential pressure device but is set to control the maximum pressure which can be applied to the entry pipe 33. With this construction the timer will open wide and admit the same pressure that is present in the pipe 38, until such time as the pressure builds up in the well, whereupon the regulator I09 will operate to bleed on the pressure from the pressure chamber 45 in the timer head. The timer thus stays open for a predetermined period but the regulator is provided to limit the maximum pressure which is to be applied.

Thus, during the time interval as the pressure drops of? in the reservoir ill to lower the pressure in the inner pipe, then the regulator will close, allowing the pressure to build up and open the power valve. This action balances itself back and forth, dependingupon the setting of the regulater we.

Fig. e shows the regulator Hill as being made up of a base 552, a body W3, and the bonnet NM. The

. or d one d an raem randp essure l ad- One of the principal features of advantage of,

the present invention is that the means and method by which the pressure fluid which is utilized to flow the well is alsothe power fluid for actuating the valves. A specific form of timing control mechanism is disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 438,891, filed April 14, 1942, for Intermitter timing device.

Broadly the invention contemplates that a charged valve is to placed in the well and is to be thereafter operated to admit pressure fluid to flow the well by the gas pressure which is controlled from. the surface.

What is claimed is:

1. An intermitter assembly for wells having a packer to close said tubing in the well, an intermitter valve, a drum on the tubing to receive a charge of fluid from the well, said valve being charged with gas under pressure so as to open at a predetermined pressure, means at the surface to admit a predetermined volume of pressure fluid into the well to exert a pressure on the charged gas in the valve to open said valve and admit such pressure fluid to said drum to flow the fluid from the well, and a series of unloader valves on the tubing above said intermitter valve which are set to open at higher pressures than said intermitter.

2. An intermitter assembly for wells having a packer to close said tubing in the well, an intermitter valve, a drum on the tubing to receive a charge of fluid from the well, said valve being charged with gas under pressure so as to open at a predetermined pressure, means at the surface to admit a predetermined volume of pres sure fluid into the well to exert a pressure on the charged gas in the valve to open said valve and admit such pressure fluid to said drum to flow the fluid from the well, and a series of unloader valves on the tubing above said intermitter valve which are set to open at higher pressures than said intermitter, so that if said drum and tubing are loaded, more than one charge of pressure fluid may be admitted to accumulate a pressure capable of unloading said series of valves.

3. An unloading valve for well intermitters to admit the unloading pressure fluid including a bellows charged and sealed with gas at a predetermined pressure, a valve member carried thereby, a housing about said bellows forming a chamber, an entry for the unloading pressure fluid to said chamber to first affect said bellows to operate said valve and then be admitted to unload the well, and resilient means on said valve to seal off said bellows when the valve is open so as to prevent the application of an excessive pressure through said entry'to said bellows.

4. An unloading valve for well intermitters to admit the unloading pressure fluid including a bellows charged and sealed with gas at a predetermined pressure, a valve member carried thereby, a housing about said bellows forming a chamber, an entry for the unloading pressure fluid to said chamber to first affect said bellows to operate said valve and then be admitted to unload the well. and a damping baflle in said bellows.

5. A well flowing device including a flow string,

a series of unloading valves thereon set to openat successively higher pressures with the lower pressure valve at the lowest elevation, and means to introduce a predetermined amount of pressure fluid into the well as a charge to open such valve or valves as will open by the pressure occurring in the well due to the introduction of such charge.

6. A well flowing device including a flow string, a series of unloading valves thereon set to open at successively higher pressures with the lower pressure valve at the lowest elevation, and means to introduce a predetermined amount of pressure fluid into the well as a charge to open such valve or valves as will open by the pressure occurring in the well due to the introduction of such charge, said means operating periodically so that if the first charge does not create a flow from the well that the second and subsequent charges will create a pressure which will overbalance the well and create a flow.

7. A well flowing device including a flow string, a series of unloading valves thereon set to open at successively higher pressures with the lower pressure valve at the lowest elevation, and means to introduce a predetermined amount of pressure fluid into the well as a charge to open such valve or valves as will open by the pressure occurring in the well due to the introduction of such charge, so that as the pressure is reduced as the well unloads, the higher valves will close and the flow occur due to the pressure fluid from the lower valve or valves.

8. A valve for well flowing devices having a flow tubing to support such valve to control the admission of pressure fluid including a housing, a valve member and valve seat therein, a bellows connected to said valve member and charged with gas at a predetermined value tending to normally retain said valve member closed, inlet ports to said housing, a chamber in the housing about said bellows to receive pressure fluid from said inlets so as to subject said bellows to the compressive force of the pressure fluid to open said valve member to admit such pressure fluid to flow the well, an enlarged reservoir forming a part of said bellows, and a damping baflle extending said reservoir into the bellows so as to reduce the volume of the bellows subject to pressure.

9. A valve for well flowing devices having a flow tubing to support such valve to control the admission of pressure fluid including a housing, a valve member and valve seat therein, a bellows connected to said valve member and charged with gas at a predetermined value tending to normally retain said valve member closed, inlet ports to said housing, a chamber in the housing about said bellows to receive pressure fluid from said inlets so as to subject said bellows to the compressive force of the pressure fluid to open said valve member to admit such pressure fluid to flow the well, an enlarged reservoir forming a part of said bellows, a damping baffle extending said reservoir into the bellows so as to reduce the volume of the bellows subject to pressure, and a leak port in said baifle to damp action of the bellows and valve member.

10. A well flowing combination including a flow string, a series of valves carried thereby and controlling communication with the interior of the string at various levels, and means for applying gas under pressure to said valves to cause the gas to enter the flow string, each of said valves having an element movable to open and close communication with the interior of the string, a sealed bellows having one part connected to said element and another part anchored with. respect to said string, and an elastic pressure fluid within the bellows under a pressure greater than atmospheric to normally tend to cause said bellows to expand and move said element to closed position, the pressure in the various bellows varying progressively from a relatively high pressure in the uppermost to a relatively low pressure in the lowermost bellows, and the bellows all having their exteriors subjected to the pressure of the gas to be admitted to the string, whereby as the pressure of said gas is increased said valves will open in turn from the lowermost to the uppermost.

11. A series of valves for use in admitting gas under pressure to a flow string and adapted to be spaced along said flow string, each valve in-- cluding a hermetically sealed member expansible to close the valve and contractible to open the same and adapted to have its exterior subjected to the pressure of the gas to be admitted to the string, and an elastic pressure fluid within each of said members tending to expand the same, the pressures of said fluid in the various expansible members varying progressively from a relatively low pressure within the member on the valve adapted to occupy the lowermost position with respect to the flow string to a relatively high pressure within the member on the valve adapted to occupy the uppermost position.

12. A valve of the character described, a bellows expansible and contractible to close and open said valve under the influence of varying pressures on its exterior surface, means enclosing said bellows and forming a chamber thereabout and having an opening therein to admit pressure fluid to act on said bellows, and means for closing said opening upon a predetermined contraction of said bellows, whereby said bellows will be protected against excessive pressures on its exterior surface.

13. In a well flowing assembly including flow tubing, a series of pressure fluid control valves mounted on said tubing to control the flow of pressure fluid thereinto, each valve including a pressure sealed bellows unit and a valve member operable thereby, each of said bellows being sealed at a different pressure to provide a sequential opening of the series upon the application of the flowing pressure fluid thereto to first open the lowest pressure valve and thereafter open the remaining valves of the series as such pressure of such fluid is increased, and means on each valve to restrict the opening movement so as to protect said bellows against the increasing pressure.

WILLIAM R. KING. 

